Indian shuttlers eye productive outing at Singapore Open

SINGAPORE: Top Indian shuttlers, including PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen, will look to hit top gear at the USD 850,000 Singapore Open, beginning here on Tuesday, with an additional objective of fine-tuning their preparations for the Paris Olympics.

The Summer Games are just two months away and the Olympic-bound shuttlers will have three more tournaments -- Australian Open super 500, Indonesia Super 1000, Canada Open super 500 -- to hone their skills and shake off any cobwebs ahead of the quadrennial mega event.

Recently-crowned Thailand Open champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have looked in the best shape for the Olympics, while Sindhu too has geared up with a runner-up finish at the Malaysia Masters on Sunday.

Lakshya and Prannoy will also hope for a deep run into the event to receive the ideal boost in the build-up to the Paris Games.

However, it will be a tough test of their temperament as some big guns stand in their way in the Super 750 tournament.

Sindhu's first final appearance in a BWF World Tour event in more than a year will serve her well but the meldown in the decider after leading 11-3 to eventually lose the final against China's Wang Zhi Yi is something which will worry her camp.

The two-time Olympic medallist will have to quickly recover from the gut-wrenching loss as bigger battles lie ahead for her this week. She opens her campaign against Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt. A win is likely to pit her against Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain.

Satwik and Chirag regained their world no. 1 status after sailing through in Bangkok without dropping a game but the duo is likely to be tested this week.

The Indian pair have been in the form of their lives with four final appearances so far this season and they will look to continue the good run when they open against Denmark's Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard in men's doubles competition.

In men's singles, Lakshya had sneaked into the Olympic qualification with two back-to-back semifinal finishes at French Open and All England Championships. The youngster is coming off a break and will face the tall task of taming world no. 1 Viktor Axelsen, who won the Malaysia Masters on Sunday.

Eighth seed Prannoy, who is recovering from a health issues, had a forgettable outing in his last tournament when he was ousted by compatriot Meiraba Luwang Maisnam in the opening round of Thailand Open.

Prannoy, a world championships and Asian Games bronze medallist, will have to find his best footing when he opens against Belgium's Julien Carraggi.

Among others in fray, Kidambi Srikanth will square off against Japan's fifth seed Kodai Naraoka, while Priyanshu Rajawat will meet Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu in men's singles.

In women's singles, Aakarshi Kashyap will face Thailand's Pornpicha Choeikeewong in the opening round.

Olympic-bound Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto also will hope for a good outing as they take on Polina Buhrova and Yevheniia Kantemyr of Ukraine in their opener.

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will clash with Chinese Taipei's Cheng Yu-Pei and Sun Yu-Hsing.